Family is thicker than blood
by ankaush
Summary: AU Marineford War. What difference a person can make in the outcome of war. Especially, if the person does it in remembrance of his old captain. OFF HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

Summary : What would have happened if Rayleigh had been present at Marineford, coming at the exact same moment Luffy arrives.

AAAAAAACCCCEEEEEEE!

Standing over the top of a sinking marine ship, was the rookie who single handedly broke into impel down, and has arrived at marine ford to save his brother-for-life-except blood. His war cry calling out to his chained brother at the scaffold, caught the attention of the marines.

Garp's frustration was evident. His adopted grandson is to be executed at any time, and now here stands his own grandson. _"Luffy you fool!"_ was all Garp could think about.

And the 300 million beli worth rookie was not alone. The marines were left gaping at the party which arrived with the rookie. Amongst whom were former Shichibukai Crocodile and Revolutionary Evankov.

But the rookie's focus was on Ace and Ace alone.

"Ace! Just wait! I will rescue you!" he said with conviction.

 **At the Scaffold**

"Wtf Garp! It's your family again!"

"Luffy!"

"So working with Straw Hat? Is this your response Jimbei!?"

Jimbei, from the location where they had landed declared "Ofcourse! I resign from the Shicibukai!"

Garp, meanwhile, was confused. Yes, it didn't make sense for half of them to be here. So, they just tagged along. "This group does not seem to have a common motive. Especially considering that it consists of a revolutionary, a group of bizarre-looking pirates, and Crocodile". But his calm outer expression was not how he felt within inside.

 _"Luffy! Damn that brat! Why in the world is he here? I cannot stand the loss of two of my grandsons on the same day!"_

"L…Luffy" Ace whispered with awe. He couldn't believe that his little brother has risked everything and come to save him in midst of a warzone. It made him feel grateful. And wanted. For the first time in his life, he felt he wanted to live.

 **At the Plaza**

"Good lord! The worst pirates of Impel down are with them!"

"Emperor Ivankov! Former Shichibukai Crocodile!"

"That pirate is always a cause of trouble…Strawhat" exclaimed a thoughtful Hawkeye Mihawk.

But the reactions varied from person to person. Ranging from a dreaded expression from Moria, a lovestruck Boa Hancock, to a look of awe from Coby.

Even the admirals were quite thoughtful with the display this rookie had to show. Managing to escape impel down and arrive at the marineford with such an impressive group of pirates is no small feat.

Smoker was gob smacked seeing Strawhat and Crocodile working together. _"What the hell is going on? Why in the world is strawhat working together with Crocodile?"_

And finally, a resolved Akainu declared that he would take care of this rookie pirate for good.

 **At the Frozen Bay**

Crocodile, slowly inhaling is cigar, looks out for a familiar face.

 _"Where's that Old Geezer? Yes, there he is. This is my perfect opportunity. But damn. Even at this old age, he looks more intimidating than the admirals. But damn him! Ill not waste this opportunity"_

Quickly traversing the distance between himself and Moby Dick using his Logia powers, Crocodile was right behind the whitebeard and ready to strike him for good.

"Long time no see, Whitebeard"

"You never learn.."

And just before he attacked, he was interrupted by Straw hat. A wet straw hat luffy.

 _"Damn that brat! He knows my powers too well!"_

"Stay away from Whitebeard Ossan! Ace likes him!" said an enraged Strawhat.

" _It's not a good time to fight strawhat. He won't take attacking anything related to Firefist. Whitebeard will be here for now. I will take care of him later."_

 **Meanwhile**

"Hey squirt.. That Strawhat of yours. Looks the the one "Red Haired" was wearing."

"Ossan, You know Shanks? He left gave it me."

"You came to rescue your brother?"

"Yeah!"

"Do you know whom are you dealing with? A squirt like you will be a dead meat in the midst of battle!"

"Shut up! It's not for you to decide! I know what you are upto! You want to become the King of Pirates?! I will be the King of Pirates!"

The even a pin drop silence could have been heard after this declaration. All the pirates on the frozen bay wondered whether some nuts are loose in the mind of strawhats. Shouting in front of world's strongest man, like it was nothing.

And as expected by the marines and pirates alike, it looked like the Whitebeard will squash this rookie and threw him away. Some marines almost pitied Strawhat looking at the furious way Whitebeard was rotating his Bisento, and striked the ground with an almighty force. Such force that many of the lowly marines couldn't even maintain the balance, quite a distance away from the Moby Dick. But what followed was not expected by many.

A smirking Whitebeard appreciatively said " How saucy you are! I will crush you if you give me any more trouble. So stay out of my way! We have to same intentions of saving Ace, but don't prove to be a hindrance to me!"

"I am going to do as I like! I will rescue Ace!"

And looking at the two contrasting personalities, one intimidating and one explosive, the marines were in awe looking at the both of them. Focused on saving the one person, one person which was the catalyst to this whole war.

But amidst this sight, no one noticed a bearded man arriving at the edge of the frozen bay.

 **At the Scaffold**

Kizaru, the yellow monkey, was amused with the interaction between the two pirates. One of the previous age, and one rookie who has the potential to make it big

" _That is, if I allow him to be alive"_ mused an indifferent Kizaru.

"We can punish them all by death, can't we Sengoku san?"

Sengoku, meanwhile, wasn't concentrating on that interesting interaction. He was focused on one man who was walking down to the whitebeard ship, drinking from a small bottle of rum.

 _"No, it can't be him. But it is right in front of my eyes. Borsalino reported that he was in Sabaody. Of course he will be here! It's his former captain's son we are executing after all!"_

"Garp! Looks like this won't be a piece of cake! Are you seeing what I am seeing!"

Garp, meanwhile, was feeling a bit relieved and dreaded at the same time. This man coming into the war was unexpected. This could be the potential gamechanger.

 **Frozen Bay**

"Hang on Ace! I will rescue you!"

Meanwhile the bearded man reached the front of the Moby Dick. People were just noticing the arrival of the man. For those new rookie marines they could not grasp the importance of the presence of this man in the midst of war. The Vice Admirals in the front lines were sweating.

" _This guy is still alive?! He and Whitebeard in the same war! We are going to be screwed!"_

"As impressive as ever Whitebeard. Surely age has not diminished your intimidation factor" said the bearded man, after gulping a sip of rum from his bottle.

"Gurarara! I wondered whether you died after rotting in the gambling houses of Sabaody! Nice of you to come here!"

"Nice to meet you to Whitebeard! And Luffy! Good to see you! Kuma was right after all."

Luffy couldn't be possibly more happy. He knew this ossan was extremely strong! Even he has come to save Ace! He could feel that they can surely save Ace now!

"Rayleigh Ossan!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Rayleigh's Resolve

 _A few minutes earlier_

"Damn! That tsunami really did a number on me."

The Dark King Silvers Rayleigh, removed his shirt and started squeezing it. Being at the rear end of the frozen area, far away from the battle, no one has noticed his arrival yet. Which was in evidently delayed due to Whitebeard's attack a few minutes ago.

 _"Hmm. Frozen Bay? That's Aokiji's work for sure. Thank heavens for not being frozen under water. That would have been a disaster."_

Rayleigh progressed forward, taking his own time to read the epic-center of the war. " _War of the Best, indeed"_ mused Rayleigh. Even under the spectacle of smoke and missiles, he could clearly make out the imposing figure of one and only Whitebeard, probably the only guy of his age who could send shivers even down the spine of the Admirals.

" _What a man. Damn brings back the old days"_ thought a distracted Rayleigh, who's thoughts went back to the days he was sailing the seas with his captain and best mate, Gol D Roger.

" _I will not die, Partner"_. His captain's final words still echoed in his years. After all these years, he still missed his Captain badly. His brother in all but blood. And that is the reason why he was here.

Nobody, except a select crew members, knew about the fatal illness Roger caught just before his final voyage. And of course he knew about Roger's love affair with Portugas D Rouge, which sadly, couldn't last long due to Roger's final wish to conquer the sea. But not before producing a heir. A heir, he had hoped against wish, to be treated as a normal human being, and not some devil spawn of the Pirate King.

 **Flashback**

 ** _"Rayleigh, I have some news."_**

 ** _After finally departing Baterilla post a 3 month stay, Roger finally ordered his crew to set sail to the grand line. The crew was warmly accepted by the people of the island, and we given a warm sent off. Though Portugas D Rouge was nowhere to be seen. Though the crew knew about the existing relationship between their captain and the woman, they never talked openly about it. They knew about the atrocities the World Government and their marines could cause if they come to know about such an information. And visibly, they weren't surprised when their captain's lover did not give them a proper send-off._**

 ** _Rayleigh, who was being entertained by yet another bickering between Shanks and Buggy, turned his attention towards Roger. Rayleigh could see that his captain's eyes were a bit teary, but the ever grinning smile was still etched on his face._**

 ** _"Sure Captain!"_**

 ** _"No Rayleigh, we need to speak in a secluded place."_**

 ** _Rayleigh frowned. This was unbecoming of his captain. But it was definitely something serious. He followed his captain to his private room._**

 ** _"Rayleigh, I need to say very important. Don't tell this to anyone."_**

 ** _Now this made Rayleigh think. This was quite unlike his captain._**

 ** _"Ok, what's the thing? This is quite weird of you, being this secretive and all."_**

 ** _"Rayleigh, I have a reason. The thing is, I am going to become a father."_**

 ** _The first mate was quite blank when he heard his captain._**

 ** _"So, Rouge is carrying your child? This complicates matters."_**

 ** _"Yes indeed partner. I am the happiest person in the world now. But at the same time, I cannot feel anything but sad thinking that I won't be able to see him grow up, to be a person of his own."_**

 ** _And for the first time, Rayleigh could see some sort of sadness in his captain's face. Sadness for the fact that he won't be alive due to some stupid incurable disease. Now that is something. Rayleigh couldn't help but feel sad for his captain._**

 ** _"Captain, don't worry. Everything will be fine. We still have to explore half of the new world. We might find some doctor who could help you out with your illness"_**

 ** _"Thanks for the comfort Rayleigh, but both of us know that it is going to be an impossible task. My body is already deteoriating and I know I won't have much time left. Even the best doctors of Drum Island couldn't find a clue about what possibly could be wrong with my body. I don't think my body won't be able to sustain myself for more than a year, and frankly, I would rather be executed by marines than die on death bed. So I will hide the rest of my treasures on Raftel, and surrender myself to the marines within 6 months."_**

 ** _Rayleigh could note the sad tone in which his captain was talking. He knew that his captain's days were numbered, but considering that his final days are so near, he couldn't help but be sad. Sad that he would lose such an incredible man. A brother in all but blood._**

 ** _"I won't talk you out of it, Roger." Said Rayleigh, sipping rum from his favorite bottle " But, what about the kid? Do you want me to take care of the child?"_**

 ** _"No. I am sorry Ray, but you taking care of him is quite dangerous. For the child. I will ask Garp-san to contact Rouge after my execution."_**

 ** _Garp. Though he was a marine, both the pirates had a great respect for the vice admiral. Not once or twice, but many a times he had cornered them, but due to devil's luck, they had managed to escape. Rayleigh wondered if this has something to the thrice cursed will of D. But that's something to think about on a later day._**

 ** _"Garp? Hmm. I think you can trust him. He can empathize with your situation. His son is a wanted man after all."_**

 ** _Monkey D Dragon was an upcoming revolutionary who's antics has caught the attention of the upper echons of World Government. Only due to Garp's excellent record that he has not been blamed for the crimes his son has committed. Yes, he could feel that if one genuinely good person who could empathize with his captain, it would be Garp and no one else._**

 ** _"Yes. And he is an honorable man. He does not follow the blind motto of "Absolute Justice" which the marines have newly adopted against the pirates. He is a reasonable man and would not hold my child for the crimes I may or may not have committed. I want my son to live in a world where he is treated like a normal person, not my child. I want him to live a happy life. A life wherein he can make his own decision without any constraints."_**

 ** _Rayleigh could see that his captain was in deep thoughts. He and his captain knew the hypocrisy and the manner in which the world nobles portray themselves as some sort of eternal God, and treat the rest of the world like scum who should kiss their feet. And not to mention, the will of D. His son will carry it, either way._**

 ** _"So, I take it that the child's name will be Portugas D, and not Gol D."_**

 ** _"Yes, Of Course. We have already decided the name for the child, whether it be a girl or a boy." Said Roger, looking out of the window on the room, observing the seagulls and the passive currents. Rayleigh knew that his captain trusted him with his heart, and this was a sort of news which proved it. And he will not let his captain down._**

 ** _"Roger, I may not be able to take care of him. To watch him grow up to become a great person. But I promise. I promise that on the event of his endangerment, I will ensure he is saved. This is a promise, Roger."_**

 ** _Roger continued to look onto the sea with rapt attention for a few moments, but turned towards Rayleigh and gave him the widest smile yet he had received from the captain in a long time._**

 ** _"Thanks Rayleigh. I knew I could count on you."_**

 **Flashback ends**

Shaking his head, Rayleigh noticed that he was so indulged in nostalgia that he had actually stopped and leaned against a ship. And he had failed to notice a group of pirates falling down from the sky like hail stones.

" _I wonder whom they are. Now that's some way to make an entrance."_

Rayleigh pushed the thoughts about his captain to the back of his mind. He can think about him later, now he had a job to do. He needed to help the Whitebeard Pirates save Ace. Just when he reached forward, he heard a voice which he wished he hadn't heard so soon.

AAAAACCCCEEEEEEEEE!

" _Wait, what?! What is Luffy doing down here. Wait a minute! Garp! Luffy must have been Ace's adopted brother! Then how in the world did he not know about Ace's capture in Sabaody! But he was not an avid news reader! That makes perfect sense! Damn that must have been quite a shock when he had come to know about Ace's capture. And with whom did he actually come here? Jail Uniforms? Wait, did he break into Impel Down?"_

Being an advanced user of Observation Haki, it didn't take much time to conclude the above thoughts. But he surely appreciated this kid.

" _He might be the one to carry Roger's will after all"_

As he progressed forward, he could see that Luffy's intentions were purely on saving Ace, and his intentions were clear. He won't back down against anyone who is against saving ace. Blocking Crocodile from attacking Whitebeard, though quite unnecessary in his opinion, would impress Whitebeard nevertheless. And there they were conversing, which looked ugly considering that Whitebeard started to rotate his weapon.

" _Luffy you fail to amaze me. Pissing of whitebeard so soon!"_

As he went towards the front of Moby Dick, he could see the way Whitebeard was looking at Luffy.

" _Hmm. The Old geezer is impressed with the brat. Interesting, but not unexpected. That Straw hat does eventually go to people who manage to shake up the world."_

And just now the front-line marines were noticing the arrival of the Dark King. Taking another sip from his bottle, Rayleigh was quite fascinated by the spectacle. Not that he was never in a war sort of situation, but he always wanted to come to marineford, not as a prisoner of course. Especially after Shiki's unsuccessful attempt to invade the island.

" _Shiki might have lost, but this island is a fortress. No surprise there. And now it's time to enter into the fray. Roger, help me to save your kid."_

"As impressive as ever Whitebeard. Surely age has not diminished your intimidation factor" said the Dark King, after gulping a sip of rum from his bottle.

"Gurarara! I wondered whether you died after rotting in the gambling houses of Sabaody! Nice of you to come here!"

"Nice to meet you too Whitebeard! And Luffy! Good to see you! Kuma was right after all."

Luffy couldn't be possibly more happy. He knew this ossan was extremely strong! Even he has come to save Ace! He could feel that they can surely save Ace now!

"Rayleigh Ossan!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 : The calm before the storm

 **At the Scafflod**

The Fleet Admiral of the Marines, Sengoku "The Budda", was visibly sweating looking at how the events are unfolding.

" _This is a disaster! First, the Moby Dick manages to enter the bay by coating their ship and directly emerging underwater. And now, not only that damn rookie has arrived bringing along with him half of the level 6 of impel down. And as if the things couldn't go any worse, in comes the Dark King Silvers Rayleigh. This is going to be a slaughter! I need to caution the marines."_

Taking a look at his old friend who is sitting besides his adopted grandson, Sengoku could see a range of conflicted emotions being displayed on his face.

" _This must truly be a roller coaster for Garp. Heck! Even I am too old for shit like this!"_

" Don't get your hopes high, Garp! You are a marine, and you have your responsibilities. I won't hesitate to kill you if you raise your fist of yours against us."

Garp, still looking quite confused at the events which unfolded within a couple of minutes, was silent for some moments.

" _This much bloodshed. Only if this damn brat had listened to me and joined the marines."_

But deep inside he knew it was a lost case. Once anyone had known his parentage, he would have been killed in his sleep and the marines would have acted as if nothing was ever wrong. Though he condemns pirates, but he knew this was the best choice as far as Ace was concerned.

Looking at Sengoku with a weirdly serene expression, he said " I know my responsibilities Sengoku. But that's the least of your concerns. You had never accounted for Whitebeard directly appearing at the center of the bay. Not only he has achieved that, he has some dangerous allies with him whom we never expected to be here at all. Will our stratagem be successful?"

Sengoku, still sweating, spared a glance at Tsuru, the elderly vice Admiral. She was visibly frowning at how the events were unfolding at the frozen bay. But nevertheless, he believed that their next plan of action will be a great counter attack to strike at the marines. He never thought about the fallen descendant of Oars unconscious at the edge of the plaza.

" _I still wonder why I took up this position. Sigh. I guess there's no better time to announce the world about the secret than now."_

"Hey, give me a broadcast den-den mushi immediately!"

Meanwhile, Ace was experiencing a torment of emotions.

" _Luffy actually came here to save me! And looking at Jimbei and co, looks like he was in impel down too. What did I do to have so many people come here on the midst of war, without even blinking an eye."_

But he frowned when he looked at the "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh. The former first mate of his " Father", he thought with distaste. And what's more, he had the gall to look at him and give a smile.

" _Why in the world is he here! Why does he care! He and his captain had abandoned my mother without a second glance .Why is he here now. Maybe it must be Luffy's work. That kid can convince anyone with his puppy eyes."_

Sighing deeply, he bowed his head down to avoid looking at the bloodshed which was happening mostly because of him. But he did not want to admit the fact that without his intent, some tears are swelling up at the corner of his eyes.

 **Back to Frozen Bay**

 **"** That..That's Silver's Rayleigh! The former first mate of the Pirate King!"

"Why is he here? Did Whitebeard hire him for the war?"

"Does Rayleigh want to kill Whitebeard for himself and become the next Pirate king?"

The presence of the former first mate of the Pirate king brought mixed responses. From fear to speculation and some outrageous conspiracy theories. Meanwhile Emperio Ivankov was confused at best.

" _Luffy boy never said anything about Rayleigh appearing here. He literally has no connection with Ace boy. This is a mystery indeed!"_

Meanwhile the heavenly demon, Donquixote Doflamingo, was laughing like a maniac looking at how the events were unfolding.

" _Fufufu! The Dark King is here! This ought to get interesting. And I will play with him a little. After all he did destroy my Auction house."_

Bartholomew Kuma, who was standing besides Doflamingo, was thinking. If a monotonous set of instruction was considered as thinking.

 _"Silvers Rayleigh : Bounty Unknown; Extremely Dangerous. Kill on sight."_

He prepared to attack him with his laser beam, without looking that Emperio Ivankov was right in the middle of his beam trajectory. And the beam went right past through his enormous hair, making a gaping hole.

"Hey Kuma! Have you gone mad! Why in the world are you attacking me!?"

Doflamingo was amused by this interaction. " _A revolutionary knows Kuma in first name basis. Interesting! But let me spoil the news for him(her?)."_

"Fufufu! Looks like you were in first name basis with the Bartholomew Kuma, or should I say, former Bartholomew Kuma."

"What? What do you mean former?"

"The Bartholomew Kuma you knew once, is dead. This person is a completely different entity. Programmed by none other than Vegapunk making him the perfect weapon for World Government. PX0!"

Ivankov's reaction was intercepted by cries of surprise from the marines, seeing the Dark King deflecting the powerful beam of PX0, like nothing.

 **Meanwhile**

Rayleigh was amused and disgusted with the whole situation in front of him.

" _So much bloodshed. Marines and their policy of absolute justice. They are nothing but the lapdogs of the World Government. But this war just pumps up my adrenaline. It has been long since I have been in a genuine fight. This should be interesting."_

He was aware enough to see beam of light coming at him from the general direction of Kuma. Rayleigh just coated his blade with haki and deflected the beam towards the frozen wave with ease. Earning looks of awe from both marines and pirates alike.

" _Hmm. These kind of looks really pumps up my ego!"_

After deflecting, he leaped towards the front of Moby Dick, where the Rookie and Veteran pirates were standing.

"Gurara. Still sharp enough eh Rayleigh! I wondered whether you would be fried like chicken from that beam"

"I am still younger than you, you old geezer!"

This light-hearted rant between the veteran pirates were stopped by a serious looking Luffy.

"I heard in that marine ship that they are going to execute immediately."

"Are they? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. They said they would after getting "all set" for something. But they were using codes that I could not understand. I know you want to rescue Ace, that's why I am sharing this with you. "

"That's quite a useful information. Thank You for sharing with me."

"No problem."

Just when Luffy was about to enter the warzone, Rayleigh called out for him.

"Wait a minute Luffy. We need to discuss some things."

 **Meanwhile**

Captain Buggy, the self proclaimed one of the world's mightiest pirates, was laughing looking at the three pirates atop the Moby Dick.

" _What the fuck is going on! Straw Hat is competing toe to toe with Whitebeard, and there comes Rayleigh-san. Why in the world is Rayleigh-san is here of all the places?!"_

Fortunately or unfortunately, he actually spoke up the last sentences aloud. And that alone was enough for his "sub-ordinates" to look up to him in new light!

"The great Captain Buggy knows the Dark King!"

"Our captain talks about him like he's is his lifelong friend! Nothing less expected from the great Buggy who was part of the Pirate King's crew!"

Buggy was visibly flushed with embarrassment with the praises he was receiving.

" _he he. These fools are so malleable. I will build a great crew with these imbeciles!"_ thought Buggy, before flashing a sign of victory to his "crew".

 **Back to Moby Dick**

 **A few minutes later**

" Do you agree with what we have discussed? Will you obey as I say?"

Luffy, who was fighting an internal conflict, nodded slowly. Whitebeard, who did not the recent past of Luffy, was looking at him in a whole new light. " _this brat packs more punch than he looks. "Red haired" chose well"_

"Cmon Luffy, what are we waiting for!? Lets go and save your brother!"

The first mate of the former pirate king, and the Rookie who has wrecked more havoc than anyone over the past 6 months, entered the "War of the Best".

 **(A/N Hello guys. This is my first multi-chapter fan fiction. Reviews are appreciated, so is constructive criticism. Most probably the fic will go upto 20-30k words, and I cannot really predict as to how frequently I will update. But atleast once in a week is for sure.)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 :

And forward marched the duo of Luffy and Rayleigh, the past and future of the pirate world, together, focused on nothing but Ace's rescue.

"Gurara. Let's see if you are just talk or you can actually do something. Marco, assist Straw Hat for Ace's rescue!"

The pirates and marines alike were quite surprised by the faith Whitebeard put on a rookie like Strawhat. Many of them gulped thinking about the implications of such a move. If Whitebeard trusted a person, that's something.

Coby, who was standing at the edge of the plaza with Helmeppo, was in awe with his pirate friend-cum-enemy.

" _That's…That's awesome! Not only did he break out of impel down in such a short notice, now none other than Whitebeard has vouched him with the task of rescuing Fire-fist! Luffy is awesome!"_

Meanwhile, the rest of the divisions were fascinated by their captain's trust on the rookie.

 **"** So that is Ace's brother huh! Come on third division! Let's rally behind him!" said Diamond Jozu, looking positive with the proceedings.

Jimbei was quite astonished to see that a pirate of Whitebeard's caliber has placed his trust on Luffy.

" _Seems like Ace-san's brother has quite a will. I will assist him to rescue Ace! Even if it means that I have to give up my life!"_ thought Jimbei, before running towards Luffy's group.

Luffy was quite oblivious of the support he was garnering, and turned around just to look Ivankov besides him.

"Iva-chan!"

"Straw Hat boy! I will help you rescue your brother!" said Ivankov. But he was more busy thinking about the implications this move from Whitebeard would have

 _"If Whitebeard has placed his trust on Straw hat boy, it means he's testing him! I will help my level best to rescue Ace! After all he is also Dragon's son, considering the fact that Straw hat boy calls him brother!"_

Gomu Gomu no Bazooka! And lo the 300 million beli worth rookie finally entered the fight, clearing out a dozen of marine soilders. Meanwhile, the Third division of the Whitebeard pirates were battling with some of the other front line soilder's, along with Ivankov. Rayleigh was progressing at a real slow speed, preferring to walk towards the group rather than keeping up with Luffy and co.

" _He has Ivankov and Marco to assist him, as of now. The real threat comes after we reach the plaza. He does not have the strength to fight the admirals and the better bunch of vice admirals. I will catch up with him later. Somehow I feel my business with Whitebeard is not over yet."_ Thought Rayleigh, who casually deflected an incoming low-level swordsman with his sword, all while stroking his beard.

 **Moby Dick**

" _I hope I have not made a mistake by keeping my faith on that brat. But he is a D after all. And considering "Red-haired's" approval of him, and the recent feats of breaking into impel down and Enies lobby, that brat definitely has some tenacity. I will have to enter the fray soon, but it's not my time yet"_

thought Whitebeard, who was analyzing the whole battle with a bird's view of the situation. Looking at his Ace, another son of his, his thoughts wandered over the better times he had with the brat.

 _"That brat is all teary eyed huh? He can cry all he wants after he parties with my family once he is rescued. As of me, Gurara! I will bow out with a high! And Sengoku, I wonder what your strategy is. I don't think that he would have let us know about his strategy so soon."_

He did not notice a shadow lurking at the edge of his ship.

 **Back to frozen bay**

The front line assault was broken up by yellow light in shape of human, kicking some of the pirates of the third division with a "speed of light" kick.

Kizaru reformed out of the yellow light, stating in his usually indifferent voice " Don't push your luck! I won't let you invade that easily."

"It's admiral Kizaru!"

Luffy, who was running right into Kizaru, yelled " You are that guy from Sabaody!"

"Yes. I am going to ruin you for what you did to the Celestial Dragons" Said Admiral Kizaru, charging up another "speed of light" kick attack. Only to be interrupted by Marco, who absorbed the attack, and kicked Kizaru with his own haki-infused attack. Kizaru was again blasted away and crashed at the edge of bay.

"Fight with someone of your caliber oi! Not a rookie!" said a grinning Marco, who was surrounded by some awe as his attack actually did some damage to the untouchable Kizaru.

"Thank you Pineapple-head ossan!" said Luffy before continuing his pursuit towards the plaza.

"It's Marco oi!"

"Straw hat boy! Wait!" said a panting Ivankov, struggling slightly to keep pace with Luffy. But he was interrupted again by a light beam.

" _Damn Kizaru! Wait it's Kuma again! I need to at least keep him away from Strawhat. He could be dangerous, considering he is nothing more than a weapon now."_

"I will kick your ass Kuma! Just watch me!" Said Ivankov before running to fight Kuma.

Luffy, meanwhile, was continuing his pursuit towards the plaza, to be interrupted by a duo. Both of them looking eerily similar to him.

" Straw hat. Here we meet again!"

" I can't wait to use my upgraded 1-2 Jango on you!"

Luffy, oblivious of their taunts, asked " Who the hell are you guys?"

"I'm Fullbody! I don't forgive you for what you did to me at Baratie!"

"Ah! Sanji kicked your ass."

"Remember my chakram?"

"Oh you are from Ussop's village. Why are you here?"

" I have joined the marines. And I will hypnotize you with my improved chakram! 1-2-Jango!"

Luffy, was little distracted with a blast which shattered a piece of frozen sea; thus did not fall asleep. But Full-body and Django collapsed, falling prey to their own hypnosis attack.

"Hina disappointed."

"Hey, you are the one from Alabasta!"

"I will bind anyone who passes through me!"

Just as she attacked with her cage-cage powers, Luffy activated his gear second and managed to escape.

"Luffy! What did I tell you about straining your body!" yelled Rayleigh from quite far away, though he was effortlessly crushing away his opponents.

"Sorry Rayleigh ossan! I had to get away from her." said Luffy, panting slightly as he progressed forward.

Luffy continued his assault forward, assisted by Jimbei and half of the third division of whitebeard pirates.

 _"Damn! They are all strong."_ Thought Luffy, but since he was heavily assisted by Jimbei and co, he did not have to fight with much effort. " _I need to stick with ossan's advice."_

 **"Why the hell did you come here Luffy! I don't want to be saved by a puny guy like you!"** yelled a distraught Ace, but mumbling " I don't want you to share my fate". The battle suddenly stopped around him, listening to what the pirate had to say about this rookie.

" **I don't care Ace! I wont forsake my brother! I will save you!"** Luffy yelled back, confusing many of the marines and pirates alike.

" _But strawhat cannot be Gol. D Roger's son."_

"I don't have time for you and your Zombies bastard!" yelled Luffy, and just then the zombies were negated by Jimbei's water wave.

"Luffy-kun, Ill take care of Moria. You progress ahead." Said Jimbei, taking a fighting stance against Moria.

"Thank you Jimbei!"

And amidst the battle, a loud voice of the fleet admiral echoed.

"Don't let a rookie take control of the war! Concentrate on attacking him! " yelled a frustrated Sengoku.

Luffy was interrupted by a Giant marine captain, who took up the job of disposing Strawhat.

" _I am sorry Rayleigh ossan, I have to deal with him."_

 **"He is a loose cannon! He and Fire Fist grew up as step brothers!"**

Gear Third! Gomu Gomu no Gigant Rifle!

His attack single-handedly brought down the giant marine, which coincided with Sengoku's shocking announcement.

 **"He is none other than the biological son of Dragon, the revolutionary!"**

 **"** Say whatever you wanna. Ace! But I will rescue you!"

 **( A/N Please review your opinion about the chapter. And the changes from canon till now are quite small, but will have adverse effect on the eventual war's outcome**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The wave of change**

 **A few minutes ago**

Somewhere secluded from the battle-zone. A marine was in deep thought.

" _Damn Rayleigh! I never thought scum like pirates valued their former captain's son's welfare so much. This was an unexpected variable. Doesn't matter, I will deal with him personally. Now, I hope my plan bears it's fruit. Due to this stupid Rayleigh I had to pre-pone the plan. Pirates are fools, and he took up my words without even thinking twice. At least he will be of good use to dispose HIM off. The sooner HE dies, the rest will fall like a pack of cards."_

 **Current time**

"He just.. Just beat a giant with one single hit!"

"He's the son of the worst criminal in the world, Dragon!"

The pirates were deeply motivated by the display from strawhat. Not to mention that he has the bloodline of one of the worst criminals of the world, made him an even more dangerous threat from the marines' point of view.

Meanwhile, Smoker was in deep thought.

" _Sengoku-san's announcement solved all the puzzles. As to why in the world strawhat was even present here. And that does explains Dragon's actions in Logue town."_

Whereas Pirate Huntress Boa Hancock was in deep thought regarding one man.

" _My sweet Luffy made it safely here~~ I don't care if his father is a Devil, he will be my father after I marry him~~. Wait, is that Rayleigh?! Why is he here?"_

 **At the Scaffold**

Sengoku, who just now finished the announcement, spared a glance at Garp.

"Garp, no offense. But I had to do it. He might be your family. But a pirate is still a pirate."

Garp, who was relatively calmer than before, just nodded to Sengoku. But his thought's where elsewhere.

" _These pirates have become organized. The arrival of Luffy and Rayleigh has made them one tight unit. Maybe, just maybe, Luffy will get out of this unscathed."_

Looking at Ace, he nodded his head in resignation. " _It will take a miracle for them to save Ace. And I definitely do not want to choose between my family and job. Though I am ashamed to think like this, but I hope such a situation does not arise."_

 **Frozen Bay (Luffy's group)**

 _"Luffy-kun's father is Dragon? That explains Ivankov's actions."_ Thought a slightly shocked Jimbei, who was looking around the battlefield.

Luffy's attack on the giant marine was enough to garner the entire attention of the marine frontlines. Luffy's group, consisting of Jimbei, some of new crew members of Buggy, and members of different divisions of whitebeard pirates, were completely surrounded by a large chunk of the marine's front tier.

 **Outer section of the frozen bay.**

Whitebeard's allies from the new world were consistently attacking the marines, to create a path and join the whitebeard pirates at the frozen bay. They were up against the vice admirals of marines, including the likes of veterans Momonga.

"Damn these admirals are strong!"

"We cannot stop here! We need to join Whitebeard pirates and help rescuing Ace!"

No one noticed the absence of one of the rather important captains from the new world.

 **Moby Dick**

 **"** Pops."

"Squard, I am glad that you are alive."

"Yeah. Barely."

"I see. How is it at the bay head?"

"The allies are getting beaten up badly. They are no match for the vice admirals. I made it here because I found a lucky way out."

"Sengoku has no mercy. He is using up all his forces to decimate us."

"Pops, do you know what the marines are upto?"

"Sengoku is no fool. It is better for us if they attack us from the rear. I am going to go ahead. I can't keep staying here seeing my sons getting hurt."

"I see. There are 43 allied pirates from the new world. And we are all in your debt beyond words. But we are risking our life for this fight!"

Meanwhile, Marco, who was looking at deadlock between luffy's company and the marines, took a glance at his captain. Squard was taking out his blade. Marco was immediately suspicious.

"I know Squard. But we are fighting.."

"I know! We are fighting to save a member of our family! Whitebeard doesn't give up on his family! Everyone followed you to hell because you are that kind of a person."

Whitebeard started to move forward. Just when Squard's sheath was dropped and and he moved forward to attack, he was stopped by a wave which made his knees stumble and halt the attack.

 **Frozen Bay**

 _"Damn we are surrounded!"_

Luffy was in a dilemma. Rayleigh forbade him to fight unless necessary. But this was beyond his control. He was completely surrounded by thousands of marines, and that's just the front lines.

"Ace, I will save you!"

Just when Luffy and his company gave a way cry and marched to fight the group of pirates, a wave of pure will passed, and 3/4th of the attacking marines dropped consciousness.

Rayleigh was walking towards Luffy as if he was taking a stroll in the garden, sipping from his rum bottle. All the pirates and marines, who had strong enough will to sustain the wave, look gobsmacked.

" _That's conqueror's haki!"_

 _"I never knew the old man possessed it!"_

 _"Everyone below commander level has been knocked out!"_

Meanwhile Rayleigh was oblivious to all the attention he was getting. He turned towards Whitebeard to see a new world pirate captain who seemed to have been in stance to attack whitebeard just before his haki attack.

" _That feels suspicious. The old geezer's observation haki might have dulled with old age"_

"Marco, go and look at what's happening with Whitebeard" said Rayleigh. He noticed that he was already off to solve the situation.

" _Hmm. That's suspicious. But I shouldn't waste my time here. I can't lag behind now."_

"Ossan! What was that? That's something similar to what happened with me in Amazon Lily."

" _So Luffy possesses conqueror's haki. He needs to learn to control it."_

"Luffy, Ill explain later. Lets move forward. Jimbei, I take it that you will take care of Moria?"

Jimbei, who was observing Moria cutting off shadows of pirates and marines alike to feed himself, just nodded.

"Let's go, luffy."

 **Moby Dick**

Just when Squard lost his balance while attacking whitebeard, Whitebeard opened his eyes to see one of his son raising a sword at him when he was distracted.

" _Ah. I see. Someone must have played the "bloodline" card. And manipulated one of my sons. Sengoku and Garp, in spite of being arch enemies, do not stoop so low. Must be some of the newer brats."_

He eyed the reactions of the three newer admirals. While Kizaru was amused at Rayleigh's haki display, Aokiji was sitting on his "throne", eyes barely open. But seeing Akainu's furious face, he concluded that he was the person behind Squard's brainwashing.

" _Akainu. That brat needs to be thought some manners. I will personally take care of him!"_

While Whitebeard was busy with his thoughts, Marco flew over to kick Squard's sword away and pushed him down the ground.

"Tell me one reason as to why I shouldn't kill you, oi" Marco said, in a dangerously cold voice.

"MARCO!"

The roar made the whole battlefield stop and look at what was happening. Most of them were so distracted with Rayleigh that they failed to notice a Whitebeard ally nearly giving a death blow to Whitebeard. Most of them were confused to even understand as to what was going on, considering Whitebeard's first commander attacking an ally captain.

Whitebeard's eyes looked dangerously dark. Most of the pirates gulped thinking about what the "World's strongest man" would do to the pirate who nearly betrayed him.

 **At the Scaffold**

Ace was hyperventilating looking at the situation. He knew what Squard was about to do. Someone might have brainwashed him. But thanks to Rayleigh (he thought bitterly. He still couldn't accept the fact that his "Father's" crew member had come to save him), Pops was saved. He couldn't just stand this situation. A war because of him was a burden enough. He couldn't stand the fact that he was nearly the reason his pops was delivered a death blow.

Meanwhile, Sengoku was analyzing the situation closely.

" _This must have been Akainu's work. Only he has the manipulative skills to press the right buttons and enrage people. But damn Rayleigh! Forgetting the ethics, if only Whitebeard had been stabbed, this war would have been half won!"_

He spared a glance at Akainu, who was fuming. Literally sweating magma.

" _RAYLEIGH! Looks like I have to handle both the former first mate of the pirate king and Whitebeard, after all."_

 **To be continued**

 **(A/N So the divergence is in full force now. Luffy is not tired at all with respect to cannon Luffy at the same stage. Whitebeard is not stabbed, and Rayleigh knocked out most of the fodders. Now the war will be even more interesting.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Chapter 6 : And they march forward_**

 **At the frozen Bay**

The world's strongest man looked like a devil. With his shadowed eyes and an aura of invincibility around him, pirates and marines alike what would the man do to the pirate who nearly betrayed him.

"You know what you have done right, Squard? You nearly thrust a sword into your father. You are such a stupid son! "

With a quick flash, Whitebeard pushed forward his hands around squard's body. While the allied pirates and squard's crew members dreaded the worst, Whitebeard's reaction stunned both the pirates and marines alike.

He pulled Squard into a hug.

"I love you son. Even if you are such a malleable fool. I know about your history with Roger. But he is my son, like you are mine. Treat everyone equally. I do not care about bloodlines or bullshit. I love my sons, whomsoever it might be."

"I shouldn't have underestimated the new admiral brats. They are more cunning than I gave credit for" said Whitebeard, before destroying the frozen Tsunami with a single tremor attack, thus giving space for the allied pirates to break into the frozen bay from the outer area.

 **Luffy's group, near the plaza**

"Ossan is one hell of a man." Said Luffy, who looked at the world's strongest man with a whole new light. He values his crew members more than anything. Luffy deeply regretted for forgetting about his crew in pursuit of Ace.

Rayleigh, seeing a look of distress in Luffy's eyes, immediately tried to pacify the distressed rookie.

"Luffy, don't worry. Kuma spoke to me just before sending you away. Your crew members are quite far away, but safe. Now let's get going."

Luffy, who looked at Rayleigh with a hint of surprised just nodded and started running forward. Rayleigh, defying age and logic, started sprinting with Luffy with same agility.

 **Meanwhile**

Jimbei, who took up a defensive stance against Moria, started to get annoyed with the antics of the Shicibukai.

" _Moria is still a weakling. I need to join Luffy-kun in his pursuit. I can't waste time on people like him."_

Moria, who had absorbed about a 100 shadows of nearby pirates and marines alike, started attacking Jimbei with his scissors/sword. But was highly successful due to Jimbei's dodging .

"You are quite agile for a pirate of your size."

" Look who's talking Moria. You are still a weakling. I cannot waste time on people like you."

Fishman Karate! Sharkskin fist!

With a single punch on the gut of Moria, Jimbei managed to knock him off balance and eventually stumbling upon all fours. Jimbei's attack also managed to release all the shadows Moria had observed before the battle.

" _I need to get going. Luffy-kun needs me."_ Thought Jimbei before running off to the direction where Rayleigh and Luffy were going.

 **Elsewhere**

"Kuma stop this nonsense! Stop attacking me! How dare you forget me!"

Ivankov, who was getting more and more frustrated at Kuma's antics, began to sweat. Doflamingo, who was in the sidelines, was looking at the battle with a bemused expression.

" _Strawhat boy needs my help. I cannot be caught up with Kuma. I will ask Dragon later as to what's up with him."_

Ivankov, with his Devil fruit powers, began to form a mirage of sorts around Kuma, confusing the newly- programmed PX0. Ivankov, now fully charged, unleashed his attack on Kuma.

Galaxy wink!

Kuma was blasted away from the vicinity, earning a sigh from the revolutionary Ivankov. Ivankov immediately began running towards the direction where Luffy and company were off to.

"Well, that was fun while it lasted" said a grinning Doflamingo.

"Long time no see Doflamingo. At least you are near to me than Whitebeard, I can deal with him later." Said a person, who just materialized out of nowhere.

"Ah Crocodile! Nice to meet you too!"

 **Luffy's group.**

Meanwhile a marine Commodore was busy fighting some of the Whitebeard pirates with his Jitte.

"Smoker-san, Look Strawhat is coming!"

Smoker, who's concentration was completely on the fight, immediately snapped his head upon hearing Strawhat. He noticed that Strawhat was accompanied by Rayleigh, with Jimbei, Ivankov and some of the Whitebeard commanders following him. He also knew what his allies were capable of, but it didn't deter him from attacking his arch nemesis whom he has been following from east blue.

"Straw hat!" was the yell Smoker gave before launching himself towards Strawhat, in an attacking mode. Just when was about to attack Strawhat with his Jitte, he was stopped by a haki-enfused sword.

"His fight with you is not today, Smoker-san. Luffy has other priorities today."

Smoker, just gritting his teeth and pushed Rayleigh away before launching himself towards Strawhat again. Only to be kicked out far away from the battlefield.

" _Who kicked me!? And it actually hurt me! I am made up of smoke, how can something hurt me?"_

He saw a visibly raged Shichibukai, Boa Hancock, giving her trademark pose, but was ready to kill someone.

"Haki from Kuja" whispered a gritted Smoker.

"How dare you touch my Luffy! How can you even think about hurting my beloved! I feel like killing someone!"

Tashigi, who tried to charge towards Luffy, was stopped by none other than Rayleigh. Tashigi, with her clumsiness, wildly charged at the experienced fighter whom Rayleigh was. Only her weapon to be expelled out of her hands due to some quick maneuvering from Rayleigh.

"Tashigi-chan. You have great potential. But you lack an attacking instinct."

"I DON'T NEED TO HEAR ADVICE FROM A PIRATE!"

Rayleigh just chucked at her antics, shaking his head. He diverted his attention towards Hancock, who was just about to brutally maim Smoker.

"Hancock! You have grown well! How are your sisters?"

Hancock, who looked Rayleigh with a slightly shocked expression, calmed down visibly.

"Rayleigh! I thought I was imagining things when I saw you." Said Hancock, before ogling at Luffy

" _My Luffy! I wonder how our marriage will be? I need to ask him about our honeymoon too~~"_

 _"_ Thanks Hancock! Smokey always gets me with his weird powers" said Luffy, who was pleased to see a familiar face.

Hancock just melted at the sight of Luffy calling out her name. But she went towards him and whispered.

"Luffy. I have the key to your brother's cuffs. Take it and save him."

Luffy's grin couldn't have been any more wider, as he just jumped and hugged Hancock to death. Hancock's body shut down at the physical affection her beloved was showing her. She collapsed once Luffy released her.

"He just defeated a Shichibukai with just a body attack!"

"Stawhat defeats Boa Hancock!" wondered some random marines, but did not have much time to dwell on it as they were assaulted by whitebeard pirates.

"Thanks a lot Hancock! I owe you lots!" said Luffy, before running forward with Rayleigh, Jimbei , Ivankov and half of the Whitebeard's best commanders and pirates.

"LETS GO!" yelled Luffy, rallying around most of the Whitebeard pirates.

" Don't worry Luffy~! I will take care of anyone who even thinks about harming you!" said a determined Hancock.

"Move away Hancock, are you resigning from Shichibukai?!" growled Smoker, before launching forwards to attack her. She just kicked the Jitte, making it brittle using her devil fruit abilities.

"Forget about Luffy, Smoker. I won't allow you to pass through me" said Hancock, not before giving her trademark looking-down-so-much-she-has-to-bend pose.

 **Meanwhile near Crocodile and Doflamingo**

" Blah..Blah..Blah.. Buggy is great! Bah Bah Bah Buggy is great!"

Mr 3, who made this candle-igloo to camouflage themselves from the war, was tired of this.

" _I am surrounded by idiots!"_

While outside the igloo, some of the marines were stumped by this white enclosure. This looked like ice, but did not feel cold. They decided to break into it, only to be surprised seeing so many pirates hiding behind.

"There are marines here! Let's run!" yelled Buggy, only to be blown up by Crocodile's sandstorm.

" _Why such stuff always happens to me?"_ was the last thought Buggy had before being blown into the battlefield, near Luffy's group.

 **Crocodile and Doflamingo**

"So Crocodile, how do you feel after rotting so many months in Impel down?"

"Very nice, Doflamingo. Nice because I can deal with scum like you!"

He launched a sables at Doflamingo, who used his string powers to fly away. This hit the buggy and co, trapping them into the sandstorm.

"What's up Mr 0. Feeling rusty are we? Why don't you join me? You may have lost your shichibukai status, but you are still a warlord!"

"Thank you, but no thanks, Joker. I prefer playing solo" said Crocodile, before using his hook and clashing again with Doflamingo.

 **At the Scaffold**

Sengoku, who was frowning at how the marines were performing, lifted his mini den-den mushi and dialed a number.

"Sentomaru, time to start phase 2"

"Yes boss!"

 **Near Luffy's group**

A swordsman was barely breaking sweat against some of the lower tier Whitebeard pirates.

" _Pathetic! These guys bring shame to swordsmen and katanas."_

Just then he saw a group of pirates running towards him. Headed by a short young pirate with a strawhat.

"Red-Haired, forgive me but I won't hold down against your protégé. If he is not upto my standards, he will die."

 **To be continued.**

 **(A/N Some might be wondering as to why Diamond Jozu never fought Crocodile, or stuff like that. These are the minute changes. Arrival of Rayleigh made the Shichibukai move forward, thus Kuma and Doflamingo ended up meeting Ivankov and Crocodile much sooner than canon. Moreover, Luffy has not yet used gear 2 or exerted himself much till now, unlike canon. These are some of the implied points of deviation, except the obvious ones. And as usual, reviews are appreciated!)**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7 : Sword vs Rubber_**

"That's Hawk eye!"

Luffy, who was relatively eased up due to assistance of the Whitebeard pirates and Rayleigh, knew that this was a battle he would have to fight on his own. He did not want anyone else to interfere in it, as it was a matter of pride and it's a true test to his abilities and will evaluate as to where he stands amongst the best of the world.

"I will fight Hawk-eye. Don't interfere in my fight."

Though Luffy was probably the most inexperienced and probably may not be the strongest fighter in the group, the pirates knew that this was a matter of honor.

" _Hmm. Looks like Ace's brother has a history with Hawk eye. I will have to save my battle with him later"_ thought Vista, one of the Whitebeard's commanders.

" I wonder if fate will end the life of one of the next generation's top pirates." Said a battle-ready Hawk eye, his eyes piercing into Luffy.

"Luffy, remember what I said." warned Rayleigh.

" _Ossan was right. I need to think calmly and should not act without thinking."_ Thought Luffy, remembering the conversation he had with Rayleigh atop the Moby Dick, a few minutes ago.

" _Be careful, Luffy."_ Thought Rayleigh nearly at the exact same moment, thinking about the same conversation Luffy was thinking about.

 **Flashback**

 **"** **Luffy, I need to talk to you." said Rayleigh, his expression serious. Whitebeard did not try to intervene into the conversation, as he continued observing the battleground from the pinnacle of Moby Dick.**

 **"** **Ok Rayleigh-san. Tell me what you have to say."**

 **"** **Luffy, I saw you arrive from the sky, with pirates and revolutionaries who were locked up deep in the Impel down. Did you actually break into Impel Down?"**

 **Luffy, who was a little distressed at the direct question, just nodded.**

 **"** **How in the world did you get into it. Never mind getting into the prison, how in the world did you manage to go through the 6 levels of literal hell, and come out relatively unscathed? And not to talk about the jail warden Magellan. He has a dangerous devil-fruit. How did you manage to defeat him, without which you couldn't have broken out of the jail?" asked Rayleigh, showcasing his extremely good analyzing skills by deducing stuff out of limited information.**

 **"** **Erm, Rayleigh-san. Hancock helped me to get into the prison. And I had Buggy and Mr 3's help. But, er, how shall I say. I actually got poisoned when I fought Magellan. But Iva-chan did something to my body, and gave me some hormone boost or something. I was really hungry after I woke up, and Iva-chan said that her boost will last for a day, so no worries!"**

 **Rayleigh was stroking the beard more and more as Luffy's explanation continued. "** ** _This kid has gone through a lot and is still standing. And what's more, he wants to go head on into a war-zone. This is not good for his health. Ivankov must have given some sort of adrenaline boost. It won't last more than an hour under extreme distress or workload. And fighting in a war is no small deal. I need to advise him to be careful."_**

 **Whitebeard, who was gently listening to the conversation, was impressed as to how dedicated was this kid in regards to saving his brother, even if it means risking his health and body. "** ** _Ace has a great family. Apart from Whitebeard pirates ourselves, I am glad that he has nakama who would stake their life for his benefit."_**

 **"** **Luffy, will you listen to me?"**

 **"** **Yes, Rayleigh-san."**

 **"** **The condition you are in now is very severe. Your body is terribly beaten. Those hormones stuff Ivankov put inside you just fools your body. You won't reach even the scaffold if you fight with your full strength so early. So listen to me carefully. Do not engage any Admirals. Do not engage any other marines with Devil fruits."**

 **"** **And Whitebeard, let's split up your forces. I would suggest you to send some of your best commanders with us. You can analyse the situation up from the back, and step in whenever you are needed. Moreover, we cannot rule out an attack from the backside. I saw some of the Bartholomew-Kuma clones in Sabaody, who were as powerful as a vice admiral. And if Sentomaru was right, they have a small army of them. So, we cannot rule out Sengoku employing them in the battlefield. I would suggest you wait till either Akainu or Sengoku personally enter the battlefield. I can handle the non-Devil fruit marines, including Garp. Do you think this will work out?"**

 **Luffy was dumb folded listening to Rayleigh having such an insight in such a stressful situation and coming out with such a plan. Whitebeard was impressed with Rayleigh. He knew about Rayleigh's caliber as a fighter, but his strategical mind was something he never came across. "** ** _No wonder Roger used to get away even from worst of the situations. This guy is a genius."_** **Thought a slightly impressed Whitebeard.**

 **"** **Whitebeard, give me a den-den mushi. I will contact you if there is a need."**

 **Whitebeard obliged by silently handling him one of the transponder snails.**

 **"** **Do you agree with what we have discussed? Will you obey as I say?"**

 **Luffy, who was fighting an internal conflict, nodded slowly. Whitebeard, who did not the recent past of Luffy, was looking at him in a whole new light. "** ** _this brat packs more punch than he looks. "Red haired" chose well"_**

 **"** **Cmon Luffy, what are we waiting for!? Lets go and save your brother!"**

 **Present.**

"So here we meet again, Straw Hat Luffy. Let's see what fate has in store for you." Said Rayleigh, demolishing some of the lower ranked Whitebeard pirates with a single swipe of his black sword.

" _I cannot defeat a swordman of this guy's caliber now. I need to do something such that he is disabled from fighting for atleast a minute! Wait! This is it!"_ thought Luffy, with a firm plan in his mind.

Luffy charged towards Mihawk, but suddenly vanished, by using Soru.

" _So he's familiar with Rokushiki. Interesting."_ Thought Mihawk, who was able to track Luffy's moments to an extent.

" _Wait? I just saw him there? How come he vanished?And what's with that steam?"_ thought Mihawk, before being forced into a defensive position due to sudden attack from Luffy.

Luffy, who took Rayleigh's advice by heart, actually started to use his powers to an advantage. By fluctuating his speed by using gear 2 for a few moments, he caught Mihawk off balance, thus enabling him to find an opening. He nearly managed to hit him only to be blocked by the flat surface of Mihawk's blade. But that didn't stop him from pushing the swordsman into backfoot. Only Rayleigh noticed the Luffy's fist blackening for a few moments before fading away.

" _This kid is a natural! He will be a very interesting pupil to train."_ Thought Rayleigh, analysisng the battle in front of him.

The marines watching the battle were little awed seeing the great Shichibukai Mihawk in the backfoot, even if it was only for a moment. " _This rookie is seriously something else all together."_ Thought some of the marines.

Mihawk, who was a little annoyed at being brought into a defensive position, gave his black blade an almighty horizontal heave. The resulting slash made the whole battle-field stop in awe looking at the shear force he put up into that attack. The attack dissipated only after Whitebeard countered it with his tremor powers. The pirates were more than a little afraid looking at what the great swordsman was actually capable of.

Luffy , just managed to jump after attacking Mihawk, only to be on eye level with Mihawk again. Luffy noticed Buggy and some of his allied pirates in Mihawk's background, who were stuck in some sort of sandstorm. Just before Mihawk made another one of his mighty slashes, Luffy used up his rubber powers mid air, and brought Buggy right in front of Mihawk's blade.

Mihawk's slash split up Buggy into two, with his torso floating up and his legs falling down freely.

"Hey you are Mihawk aren't you! How the hell do you attack me!" said an enraged Buggy, who sent his special muggy ball at him. Mihawk, who was already descending towards the ground, just tilted his blade and deflected it back towards Buggy, who became a victim of his own attack.

Luffy, who was in mid air far above the ground, was thinking about a way to adjust the intake of air without overdoing it and facing the repurcurrsions. So he inhaled a medium amount of hair, which he normally uses for one giant fist, and split it into two, and concentrating it completely only onto the fists. He was surprised to find that only his fists were now enlarged, and it gave him more mobility unlike his previous version of gear third. Satisfied with his modification, he turned towards implementing the second part of his plan.

Mihawk noticed Luffy enlargening his fists, probably to put his entire strength into some sort of final attack. Positioned himself to cut the hands off even necessary.

Gomu Gomu no- Gigant GATTLING!

Luffy started hammering his heavy hands right around Mihawk. Due to his improved gear 3, he noticed that he got more mobility in his arms, and he could use it to implement his gattling attack. Mihawk dodged Luffy's attacks, but couldn't actually return any as the pace of the attacks kept him onto his toes. He did not notice that Luffy's attack's were such that he was forced to come back to a central position, and the ice around him was cracking.

Just when he noticed that most of the ice collapsed around him, Mihawk was temporarily shocked to find that he had underestimated his opponent. " _I thought he would be reckless. But that was some good planning. "Red-haired", he's growing up well. But I won't underestimate him the next time."._

Just as the ice collapsed around Mihawk, who was temporarily distracted, Luffy managed to land a blow on Mihawk, completely submerging him into the water. The marines were awestruck that a rookie managed to land a blow on Mihawk. The Whitebeard pirates were delighted with this mini-victory, and were even more pumped up with their fights.

Luffy managed to get back to the ground, and brought his fists back to normal size. He was glad that the problem with gear 3 was solved.

"That was some good tactics, Luffy. Lets march forward!"

"Yosh! Lets go!"

Luffy, Rayleigh, Jimbei, Ivankov and rest of the commanders progressed forward. Mihawk, who simply jumped back to the ice as if nothing ever happened, was impressed looking at Luffy's performance. And he was not at all disappointed at seeing Whitebeard pirates' best swordsman right in front of him.

"Flower Vista. I have heard a lot about you."

" I am glad to hear that. It's a compliment coming from the likes of you." Said Vista, before getting into a deadlock with Mihawk.

Mihawk was easily holding upto Vista's best, but his thoughts were on Luffy.

" _A pirate's strength is not some sort of trick or devil fruit. A pirate's strength is in his ability to gain powerful allies. This kid has surpassed my expectations. He has made allies with Whitebeard out of nowhere. And what's more, this goofy exterior is filled with excellent battle intelligence. This kid will be THE pirate of the near future."_ Thought Mihawk, before concentrating on his duel with Vista.

 **At the Scaffold**

"Are we all set?"

"Yes, fleet-Admiral san. Even the bay."

"Cut the den-den mushi connection right away! We must win this war at any rate, on the name of absolute justice! It's time to show the true might of the marines, and crush these pirates. But it will be too gruesome for the people of the world to see it. So cut the live video streaming!"

 **Back at the edge of frozen bay** ****

 **"** Look there! There's something coming!"

"Why are there so many Kuma's!"

 **Moby Dick**

 **"** Gurara! This must be the Pacifista Rayleigh talked about. Looks like I need to stretch my hands now."

 **Edge of frozen bay**

"Damn it was getting boring! Time to get into the battlefield!" yelled out a pumped up Sentomaru.

 **To be continued**

 **(A/N Luffy shows signs of Armament haki. Just like he activated his observation haki, in cannon, I assumed that Armament haki is activated under similar circumstances. And looks like whitebeard is going to enter the battlefield eventually! Cannot say when can I update the next time, might take a week depending upon my schedule. Anyways, reviews appreciated!)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The rest of the allied pirates were shocked at the sight they were seeing. Dozens of Bartholomew Kumas appeared at the rear end of the battlefield, with a man handling a battleaxe commanding them.

Some of the allied pirates finally got the hint of marines' manipulation. By leaking the news of Ace's execution, they were all rushing towards a trapped built specifically to eliminate them.. But thanks to some foresight from Whitebeard, they were saved from such a fate. The pirates were scattered all over the bay, and the marines haven't retreated yet!

"Uncle! I heard that all the pirates were going to be easily encircled inside the bay when we arrive! Why in the world are they scattered all over the bay!"

Sentomaru got a reply from Sengoku through his Den-Den Mushi, who was literally yelling " The pirates are still visible! Attack the allied pirates as we had planned first! Dispose off the ones who wander far away from the enclosure! Keep the damage to the marines to a bare minimum!"

"Alright! Lets attack!"

While some pirates charged at the Pacifistas, they were brutally decimated by their inbuilt lasers. But suddenly, the entire allies started moving towards the edge of the bay in an organized fashion. Sengoku was frowning looking at the situation, " _Even the Pacifista take time to organize and charge at the ranks. These pirates are sprinting away like cockroaches! And what's more, it's some sort of order! Whitebeard must have a hand behind this!"_

Meanwhile, Sentomaru was getting more and more frustrated.

" _This was far cry from what they had planned for! The pirates are trying to escape, or that's what it looked like. And what's more! Whitebeard's decimation of the frozen Tsunami wave has created chunks of blocks as obstacles. While Pacifista's destructive power is admirable, their mobility is still an issue! It will take lots of time to track all the pirates and finish them off! But we need to start somewhere."_

"Pacifista! Break into three groups! Center, East and West! Center, take care of the ice blocks! East and West track down the pirates!" roared Sentomaru, tapping his axe onto the ice surface.

 **Moby Dick**

 **A Minute ago**

 **"** Gurara! This must be the Pacifista Rayleigh talked about. Looks like I need to stretch my hands now."

 **"** _But I cannot let my sons getting harmed .I need some barren space so that none of the other fighters or my sons come in between the cross-fire."_

Picking up his Den-Den mushi, Whitebeard contacted all his commanders and the captains of allied pirates. And stated his order.

"My sons! The marines have started with their strategy! Looks like they were planning to have us trapped by leaking the information of Ace's execution time. But our foresight has avoided such a disaster! But these Pacifista are no less dangerous. So listen to me. Allied pirates, run away from the center of the bay to the corner of the plaza! Avoid staying on ice! And Whitebeard commanders with Strawhat! Support his forward charge and listen to Rayleigh's orders! Other Whitebeard Commanders! Progress forward towards the Plaza!"

All the captains accepted Whitebeard's orders without even a single question. They had enough faith in their Captain/Yonko to accept the orders, and await the major event that was going to happen.

Gachak!

Whitebeard turned towards Squard, who was looking very sober and betrayed, while Marco kept an eye on him.

"You still think I sold you out? Squard?"

All Whitebeard heard was a whimper as Squard couldn't even look at Whitebeard's eyes, being too ashamed to think that he thought this man could betray them. A man who values family above everything else.

"I..I cannot even explain myself, Pops. You have every right to kill me."

"No matter how foolish one might be, family is family. Yes, you nearly killed me, but it's not for your selfish reasons. You were manipulated into thinking that I was going to betray you all. You still had a sense of comradeship while you tried to stab me. I am not ashamed of you, my foolish son. But just never doubt my intentions towards my family again." said Whitebeard, his eyes glistering more and more as he continued his speech. Squard and Marco felt a sense of pride to consider such a man as their father.

"I am sorry, Pops. Just forgive me."

"Don't make me all sentimental prat! Now get going! I have some business to attend to." Said Whitebeard, before jumping towards the back of the ship with a single leap.

 **Scaffold**

Meanwhile, all the video streams were cut off, except one. One showing a pirate with ridiculous amount of makeup trying to apply more make-up onto himself.

"Who the hell is that! Kizaru, cut that stream! It is still live!" yelled Sengoku in his den-den mushi, visibly sweating at the implications as to what could happen if the world sees such a brutal massacre.

" _Damn the World Government and their image! They just do not even care as to how tedious is to make people believe that marines' Justice is what that keeps them safe! And then clowns like this guy ruin my plans! I am too old for this sort of shit!"_

 **Meanwhile**

A pirate was checking his makeup, and was all set to make his eventual reveal to the pirating world. He was re-checking his make-up, just to be sure that everything was in place. Now it was finally time, time for Buggy to reveal himself to the world.

Buggy's crewmate-cum-admirers, were positioning the video den-den mushi so that the entire focus was on him. After all, Captain Buggy, the former crewmate of the king of the pirates, deserve recogonition.

" I am Captain Buggy..And.."

 **BLAST!**

The whole crew was blasted away by a beam of yellow light. A man emerged out of the impact area, holding onto his den-den mushi, and slowly searching for something .

"I am sorry Sengoku-san! I cannot find any sort of..Den-Den Mushi here. Though I have a black one, yet again I forgot as to what it is used for. I need to ask Sentomaru-kun."

If he was more careful, he would have noticed a den-den mushi flying far away from the battle, and landed at the now-deserted frozen area.

"Shut the hell up and search for the video den-den mushi!" yelled Sengoku, with the den-den mushi more or less replicating his frustrations.

Kizaru just pouted at being yelled at. " _What did I do?"_ thought the glare-glare devil fruit user. His musings were interrupted by a loud crack after which all hell broke loose.

 **Luffy's group**

Gachak!

Most of the Whitebeard pirates were speechless for a second, before diverting their attention towards whom they came to call as "Ace's brother". But considering their captain's faith in strawhat to rescue Ace, this was something else all-together.

"Looks like Whitebeard has put up a lot of trust on you, Luffy. He is testing you."

"I don't care if he is testing me or not! All I care is about saving Ace!"

Just before he was about to sprint ahead , a loud crack broke his concentration, and the sight he was seeing made him to gape.

 **Frozen Bay**

Whitebeard, now at the rear end of the ship, jumped on to the frozen ground. He slowly kept his bisento onto the ground.

"Lets see how good you machines are."

And with a single, swift moment, he punched both his hands forward, completely cracking up the air in front of him. And followed it my punching the ground with all his might, creating multiple cracks on the ice floor.

The sheer force of first blow created yet another tsunami, but now away from the Marineford bay. Most of the marine warships and Oars' ship, which protected most of the allied ship from the blast, took the damage head on. Sentomaru just managed to jump away from the epic-centre of Whitebeard's first blow and managed to stumble onto the edge of the plaza's crescent-shaped edge. But the centre group of Pacifista were not so lucky.

They were facing the full blunt of the Whitebeard's tremor powers, and the second attack by whitebeard was enough to make the entire frozen bay to crack up. And their fate was sealed when Whitebeard literally pulled down the air, and making the whole axis tilt. The pacifista did not stand a chance, and the entire center group was decimated by the final axis-tilting blow from Whitebeard.

Meanhile, all the front-line marines were thinking the same thing.

" _Whitebeard has entered the battle. Shit is about to get serious. God save us all."_

 **At Sabaody**

 ** _"_** Did you see his attack!"

"The whole ground shook up and the seas began to tremble."

The reporters and people of Sabaody Archipelago were stunned at the final visuals of the war, before feed was cut off. Most of them were gaping at how strong Whitebeard was, but any further possible discussions were cut-off by a Tsunami warning, which led to evacuations towards more secure areas.

Meanwhile, one of the viewers, who wore a dotted cap, was widely grinning at the visuals. The war of the best was finally living upto it's name, but he couldn't see it from here anymore.

"Bepo, it's time to go to marineford."

 **(A/N So whitebeard has entered the field. I used a variation of Whitebeard's attack. I always thought whitebeard held back from using his full capability of devil fruit attacks because he was afraid of hurting his crew members. And reviews are appreciated!)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 : Phase 2**

The whole marineford bay was still in a state of shock following such an immense show of power. He single handedly obliterated half of the newly designed and nearly indestructible marine weapons. The marines were trembling with fear, whereas all the allied pirates were pumped up and raring to go.

Meanwhile, Whitebeard just analyzed the situation around him after the attack. The entire 2nd half of the frozen bay has been demolished, and it is nothing more than water now. Most of the marines and allied pirates who were stuck up behind resumed their battle at the crescent end of the plaza. Since most of the higher ranked marines retreated within the plaza before the arrival of pasifista, only a few low level marines and the remaining pacifista were battling against the allied pirates and a few of the Whitebeard pirates.

" _Hmm. The pacifista have some kick, but attacking the pirates in a near open field is not logical. Sengoku must have planned something. Meanwhile.."_

An action which left even the vice admiral speechless, Whitebeard dug into the base of Moby Dick, and with a grunt he lifted the ship with a single movement, and threw it back outside the newly unfrozen inner-bay area. Far away from the battlefield.

"Ah Moby. Now you won't come in crossroads. Marco, arrange for a shipwright to fix the hole I created!"

Marco, who was holding a sobbing Squard by his collar besides the area where the ship was frozen, simply nodded before flying towards the ship.

Whitebeard now truly looked at the entire battlefield in front of him. He picked up his bisento from the ground he had kept, and struck it's base with the frozen ground, emitting an aura of invincibility and power.

"You cannot fool me, Sengoku.. Give me your best! I WILL ENSURE MY SONS' SAFETY, NO MATTER WHAT!"

 **At the Scaffold**

Sengoku was deeply frustrated at how things were going about. Picking up his den-den mushi, he literally shouted

"Tsuru! Activate phase two! Marines on the wall, attack Whitebeard with cannon!" yelled Sengoku and slammed the mouth piece of the den-den mushi.

" _Damn this war! It's getting out of control! First Garp's grandson wreak havoc, and now Whitebeard will be out for our blood! Can thing's go any worse?!"_

For once he never thought as to how come a rookie who broke into impel down just a day ago manage to gatecrash into the war. Nor did he knew about the authorized opening of the "gate of justice" by one of the shichibukai.

Meanwhile, Ace was all teary eyed seeing the affection everyone, including his pops, held for him.

" _I am so grateful that in spite of being the biological son of the pirate king, people have so much affection towards me."_ He thought, before bowing down again as he couldn't tolerate the sight of anyone getting hurt for him.

"Luffy..Pops.." he whispered, almost silently.

 **Frozen Bay**

"Stop crying Squard. No damage done. EVERYONE! CHARGE FORWARD!" yelled a pumped up Whitebeard.

All the cannons were currently aimed at Whitebeard. And the ones fired were easily deflected or blocked back by Whitebeard. But his concentration was on the retracting marines, who were either abandoning their posts or fight and running back into the plaza.

" _Something is going to happen. I just hope no one gets hurt."_

 **At the Scaffold**

"Why is it not activated yet!"

"The ice has blocked the barrier! We need more time!"

"Dammit! The Whitebeard pirates are charging fast! Do something fast!"

"Yes, Fleet Admiral!"

"Giants! Buy us some time! Attack the pirates! And apply full power in enforcing the barrier!"

 **Frozen Bay**

Marine Commander, John the Giant, was finally happy to get a chance to counter attack at the incoming pirates. He ruthlessly attacked the pirates, who looked rat-sized in comparison to him.

" _Ah! There's Whitebeard! He might have some tricks up in his sleeve but he's an old guy. I will crush him under the weight of my sword and bring glory to the marines!"_

With an almighty heave, he attacked Whitebeard, just to be blocked. With a single hand. Whitebeard growled out of frustration, and deflected the giant's sword back, and threw away his bisento.

With a single swipe, he used his tremor fruit to tilt the entire axis of the marineford island. The marines and pirates alike were looking at Whitebeard with awe and fear, at least the ones who managed to keep their balance. The entire sea got tilted with Whitebeard's single attack.

Whitebeard, who was visibly angry, just jumped upto the Commander's eye level, and used his tremor fruit to punch him. The impact of the punch was severe enough to break the ice, and destruct anything in it's way. While it nearly reach the scaffold, it was blocked and deflected back by the three admirals, who used their haki to dissipate the attack. The deflected attack did severe damage to civilian buildings, which made the people wonder how much can this island sustain before it breaks apart.

 **Luffy**

Luffy was currently falling down the crack which was created by Whitebeard's axis tilting attack. He was in awe with the power the old man held. He tried to stretch his hand towards the edge of the cliff, only to fall short. Jimbei's timely arrival saved him as he managed to catch Luffy's hand.

"Thanks Jimbei."

"No worries, Luffy-kun. Let's move forward. The whole situation looks doubtful. The marines are retreating back to the plaza. Something is about to happen."

"No Jimbei. I will use my rubber powers to get over to the plaza."

"Luffy, wait!" yelled Rayleigh

Just as Luffy used his powers to get over the wall separating the bay and the plaza, the barriers, surrounding the entire bay, emerged out of the frozen ice, pushing luffy away from the plaza. The barrier consisted of hardened steel, with thousands of cannons pointed towards the center of the bay.

 **Whitebeard Pirates**

"We are trapped!"

"Oh dear! This was their plan all the time!"

"Look out!" yelled a pirate from 4th division, pointing towards the fallen Oars. The enforcing barriers did not have the strength to overthrow the mighty Oars, and the one section of the plaza remained open to the pirates.

 **Scaffold**

"What the hell happened!? Why has the barrier not completely functional!?"

"S-Sir! We do not have enough power to lift the giant! Seems like blood dripping over the machines has reduced it's power!"

"Damn the giant!"

 **Whitebeard**

Meanwhile, Whitebeard was analyzing the situation.

 _I don't think Sengoku will be foolish enough to enforce any barriers which could be broken by me. I guess that makes the plan of breaking the wall apart obsolete. I guess I need to proceed with plan 2._

"Sons! Come towards the center of the bay! And be together, time to implement stage two. Devil Fruit users, stick with someone who can catch hold of you."

And with a single blow to the ground, Whitebeard broke the entire ice sheet apart, and blew 75% of ice to smithereens.

( **A/N Sorry Guys! Couldn't post for nearly 3 weeks due to commitments. I had warned though. Anyways, I feel the story has too many similarities with the original marineford arc. Ill try my best to do something original, and plausible at the same time. And reviews are appreciated.)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**

 **This story is officially on a hiatus till June. I guess it was quite obvious from the fact that I haven't updated it for the past 5 months or so. But I do have all the intentions to complete it.**


	11. Chapter 11

**It is just the beginning**

 **"** Get out of here! We are going to drown!"

"Stop yelling you fool! Don't wanna die in a stampede now!"

Whitebeard's latest attack, which followed Fleet Admiral's orders to raise the barriers, brought a sense of chaos and panic amongst the Marine ranks. While most of Whitebeard's ally and army were still in the mere edge of the bay and were mostly unaffected by their captain's attack, the chunk of marines were in the frozen bay, which was slowly crumbling.

Kizaru, who flew towards the area which was slowing reverting back to it's natural liquid state, just started at the sight below.

 _"Hmm..These marines are running around like a headless Chicken. Tch! Marine Admirals really need to step up their game…Wait, it is my responsibility! Oh dear, I shouldn't forget such important facts."_

"Oi! Stop fighting among yourself! Retreat back to the Scaffold!"

" _Damn it! I should have remained a vice-admiral. So much work! Tch! Oh well, I won't interfere now till I am explicably said so"_ sighed Kizaru mentally, exhausted with all the chaos caused by the Whitebeard pirates.

 **Luffy**

"What the fuck!" exclaimed Luffy. The past one minute had been an absolutely chaotic one for the Straw-Hat captain. After his attempt to literally sling himself near to Ace was thwarted by the newly sprouted barrier, the old man had without warning nearly blew away all the ice.

Which led to his predicament of being thrown directly into the water, nearly drowning in the process. Jimbei's swift actions once again saved him from a certain painful death.

*Cough* " Thank you Jimbei. What's with Ossan's attack! Is he trying to kill us or something! At least he could have warned us!" rasped Luffy, still recovering from his near-drowning.

"Luffy, I know you are eager to save your brother. But we have a plan, and lets abide by it. And just for your information, Whitebeard informed me about his intentions just before he broke the ice layer. Our objective is to currently to move to the center of the bay" explained Rayleigh.

With still some major chunks of ice remaining near the center of the bay, Luffy's group began lunging towards the center of the bay, as instructed.

 **Sengoku**

"This is not how I imagined things would plan out" sighed Sengoku. His plan to trap the Whitebeard pirates by surrounding them with the walls and the Pacifista is slowly falling apart. With Whitebeard destroying most of the Pacifista, and not to mention creating a sense of panic amongst the lower marines by literally destroying the entire frozen bay with a single attack, it was definitely not going according to the plan.

 _"At least Kizaru had the sense to order an immediate retreat"_ mused Sengoku, pondering his options now. With the majority of the marines' concentration back in the harbor, defense was the only option the Marines had.

 _"With the majority of the marines back in the center, and the Whitebeard pirates still pretty much scattered, it's time to up the defense. Time to move forward this execution and finish things off soon. Ace's execution will surely cause chaos in the ranks of Whitebeard pirates"_ thought Sengoku, a plan nearly forming in his mind.

"Tsuru! Change of plans!"

Tsuru, who was frowning at the entire situation had fledged out for the marines, responded to her Fleet Admiral's call.

"Listen to what I have to say. There is a change of plans" said Sengoku, before beginning to inform Tsuru about the changes.

 **Whitebeard**

Whitebeard proudly smiled at how the marines retreated after his attack.

 _"These little twerps are decades behind to even think to fight me"_ mused Whitebeard, thinking about one particular Giant who lunged at him. He was old but damn! A battle never fails to bring out some excitement out for him!

Seeing majority of his pirates beginning to drift towards the center of now the not-so-frozen bay, he lunged towards a large chunk of ice floating nearly towards the center of the bay. Pulling out his den-den mushi, he began to bark out his instructions.

"Those who are near the center of the bay, gather fast! Those who aren't, go back to the perimeter of the bay, which is still frozen and take care of the remaining Pacifistas! The pacifistas are organized by that man wielding an axe. Capture him and try to stop those machines!"

"Ok boss!"

"Sure Oyajin"

The commanders who were yet to enter the bay, began to progress towards the still-frozen areas where the Pacifistas were trying to reorganize themselves after bracing themselves from the aftermath of Whitebeard's attack.

"Now my remaining commanders, come to the center. I will tell about the plans once *the Kraken is released*" said Whitebeard. Marco, who had earlier discussed the plan with Whitebeard, took the cue and dove into the sea.

"Rayleigh, I need to talk to you" said Whitebeard, before hanging up the Den-Den Mushi. Now, with his plan initiated, it is about the execution.

 **Ace**

Still teary eyed, Ace couldn't believe at the chaos created by his father's attack.

 _"Oyajin, I'm not worthy of this love"_ thought Ace silently.

His own morbid mood however did not prevent him from noticing what's happening at the now nearly unfrozen bay. His father stood atop a large chunk of ice, with a major number of pirates coming towards him. The rest of them were retreating back to the still-frozen area, wherein those Kuma-looking monsters were organizing themselves. And finally, out of nowhere, he saw Marco diving into the sea.

And moments later, a large Moby-Dick looking ship just propped up out of water. Whitebeard and the rest of the pirates who were gathering around the center of the bay, were automatically caught by the coating which was still covering the huge ship.

The ship landed right in the middle of the area between the scaffold and the bay, causing the still-organizing marines to disperse off once again.

 **Moby Dick 2**

Off the *Kraken* which just landed on hard-ground, Whitebeard majestically jumped from atop the hull of the ship and landed on the ground.

"And now it really begins!" roared Whitebeard, emitting a powerful wave of conqueror's haki.

 **A/N : Sorry guys, the past year has been busy for me. But here's a small, tiny-winy update. I have my plans to complete this story, but still haven't decided on how I would continue with my updates. As always, constructive reviews appreciated!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 : We march ahead**

 **Edge of Plaza**

"Holy Shit! That was awesome!"

Luffy, was still recovering from the unfortunate drowning incident he had a minute ago, is quite impressed with the Old man's strategy. Within a span of seconds, they were back in the solid ground, and more importantly, closer to Ace.

"Have trust in us old timers, Luffy. We have survived the seas for twice the number of years you are alive." Replied Rayleigh, who was in midst of drying his clothes as much as possible.

"Luffy-kun. I have heard about your incredible achievements over the past 6 months. But we are in the midst of a war currently. Follow your instinct, but don't be foolish and do something stupid. And don't engage the Admirals by yourself" warned Jimbei, who was standing besides Luffy.

 _"Jimbei is right. Aokiji wrecked me the last time we met; though I have become more powerful, I do not see myself challenging an admiral. And seeing how powerful Ossan and Rayleigh Ossan are, I should trust their judgement. They want to save Ace as much as I want to save them."_ Luffy reasoned, getting all set for the battle.

 **Scaffold**

"These Bastards!"

Sengoku was seriously pissed off. The pirates are out-maneuvering them at every instance. Need to put his plan to action. He observed that majority of the marines and the Shichibukai were retreating back into the plaza while Whitebeard attempted this stunt.

"Tsuru! What is the status of the barrier?"

Tsuru looked a bit more serene now.

"The Ice around the barrier-lifting mechanism is currently broken. We can raise the barrier at any instant."

"Excellent! Tsuru instruct the team to lift the barrier."

 _"And now it's time to trap the mouse in the cage"_ thought Sengoku.

"Shichibukai! Its time to pay up for the leeway you receive. Trap the Whitebeard pirates from behind. Marines who have retreated from the ice, surround the whitebeard pirates!" Ordered Sengoku in his den-den mushi.

 **Mihawk – Edge of Plaza**

"Hmm"

With his typical response, he set his sights back on Vista.

 _"Nice move from Whitebeard there. Forcing us to retreat by breaking the ice, literally, and later making a jump. Time to complete my 'obligation'"_ Thought Mihawk, before setting his sights on Vista.

 **Doflamingo – Edge of Plaza**

"Fuck off Sengoku!" yelled Doflamingo, who was midst of his battle against Crocodile. His veins were popping out of his forehead, ready to burst.

"Don't bother to use your signature move, Doffy. Your little, puppeteer skills won't work against me, a logia user"

"Oi Oi. Did you not join your little pirate buddies with their grand plan Crocodile? _Athlete!_ " yelled Doflamingo, before attempting his trademark kick against Crocodile

"I am as interested in playing pirate-pirate as you are Joker. Let's continue with the entertainment" replied Crocodile, who blocked Doflamingo's attack with his hook.

Neither noticed the slight, rhythmic shaking of the ground on which they were battling.

 **Boa Hancock – Edge of plaza**

 _"My sweet husband(?)Lluffy is getting closer to his brother~! Better to go and protect him and perform my duty as his wife!"_

 **Bartholomew Kuma – Edge of plaza**

Kuma, who still had a bit of himself still left; After all the marines had ordered to complete his transformation after this impending war, ignored Sengoku's order. He was watching a colossus approaching the battle. He might be needed here rather than where Sengoku ordered him to be.

 **Whitebeard – A few moments ago**

 _"Now we are back in the main land, things will get easier. Ah, the 'mastermind' Sengoku will order his retreating troops and surround us. Those pesky Elbaf marines can be a little troublesome. Good that we delayed his entry into the battle"_ Thought Whitebeard, before pulling out his den-den mushi.

"Oars Jr! Now is the time!" Ordered Whitebeard.

 **Sengoku**

Just after he finished ordering, he noticed that Tsuru was frowning.

"Sengoku-san, you did notice that big Silhouette of a Giant approaching us?"

Sengoku was visibly sweating by now. This cannot be what he was thinking.

"Giants, stand by near the barrier! Don't fall back! Someone huge is approaching the battle! Do not allow that _thing_ to enter the battle! He will wreak the whole island of Marineford!"

 **Oars Jr**

"Got it Oyajin" mumbled Oars Jr. He had a job to do. He was here to fight for his friends, his father, and more importantly, his brother in all but blood, Ace.

 _"Ace, just wait for me. I will save you!"_ thought Oars Jr, before slowly making his way towards the battle.

 **Whitebead**

"Gather around, everyone!" yelled Whitebeard to the members of his family, who were still recovering from the sudden jump.

"Listen to me. We are here to save Ace, not to kill marines or pick up petty fights. Our focus should remain saving Ace, and nothing else. Now, abide by what I say. Do not engage anyone above your level. Myself, Marco and Rayleigh will look after the admirals. And back up Strawhat Luffy, he will save Ace. He is the key. Protect him, and ensure he gets to Ace. He knows what's to be done. Marco, stay with me. Rayleigh, I believe you will accompany the rescue team."

All the Whitebeard pirates were looking at the little boy who had fire in his eyes. They believed in their father.

Whitebeard noticed that his sons were ready to oblige his command. Now time to put up the bait. He took in a long breath, and yelled –

"Akkkkkkkaaaaaaainuuuuuuuu!" releasing a huge wave of conqueror's haki. This knocked out most of the lower-tier marines who were surrounding them, giving the rescue team easier path to traverse to rescue Ace.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 : The Mad Dog**

 **Whitebeard**

 **A few moments ago**

 _"I hope my little brats rescue Ace without getting distracted. I'll see what I can do. Need to keep that Magma Bastard's focus solely on me. My sons are not ready to face him yet"_ thought Whitebeard, before taking a deep breath.

 **"Akkkkkkaaaaiinuuuu!"**

The loud yell was followed by the huge wave of conqueror's haki, which knocked out half of the lower tier marines who were surrounding the whitebeard pirates. The whole battlefield stopped and turned their attention towards Whitebeard, keen to know what the World's strongest man has to say now.

 **"Akainu, you little brat. I thought Marines were the one's who upheld 'justice'. Interesting tactic there, turning my own son against me using the hatred of the pirate king's son. Makes me wonder as to why you resorted to such underhanded tactics, especially from an all-mighty justice and truth loving marine."**

 **"But why am I surprised? If the innocents of Ohara, who did no harm to this world than gulping down all the knowledge available, were ruthlessly slaughtered by none other than you, the life of a 'filthy pirate scum' is worth less than shit in your eyes, I believe. The marines, the face of truth, justice and bravery, resorting to such cowardly tactics. Too afraid to fight me, are you 'Admiral' Akainu Sakazuki, the pioneer of absolute justice!"**

 **Sengoku**

"This is getting out of our hands" muttered Sengoku, to himself.

Sengoku was feeling every bit of his age now. Not only have the Whitebeard pirates have successfully entered the plaza, now the giants have their hands full trying to restrict that descendant of Oars. And this speech from Whitebeard, which is currently being broadcasted to the entire world, is putting the marines in a very bad light.

 _"Looks like a preponing the execution is the only way"_ thought Sengoku, before sneaking a glance at how Garp was doing.

"Garp, I feel it's time to move ahead of the schedule" insisted Sengoku. Garp, who's head was down due to grief, just nodded.

 **Whitebeard**

The remaining marines were getting furious listening to what the Yonko has to say. How dare a pirate insult one of the admirals, and by doing so, the whole marines.

Vice Admiral Bastille was royally pissed at the Whitebeard. With an almighty roar, he charged towards Whitebeard. Surprisingly, none of his crew or his aides tried to stop Bastille. The Admiral unleashed his infamous "Shark Cleaver" at Whitebeard, who made no effort to block it with his bisento. By just using his hand, he caught the cleaver, which broke at the impact. With a grunt of fury, Whitebeard grabbed the Vice Admiral by his face, and smashed him down the ground, breaking his skull-mask in the process.

 **"Some loyal dogs you have, Sakazuki. Hiding behind these little little brats who are yet to come out of their nappies, are you? Is this the best the marines have to offer? A cowardly admiral and a bunch of loyal, brainless thugs? Answer me Akainu!"** yelled Whitebeard.

 **Akainu**

With every sentence sprouting out of Whitebeard's mouth, the Navy admiral's body temperature was sky-rocketing. Not only was his plan to weaken Whitebeard a spectacular failure, now the old bastard has to taunt his measures, and question his motto of Absolute Justice.

 _"This cannot be allowed to go on. The might of the navy cannot be brought down by a mere pirate who was well past his prime and should be in his death bed. Looks like the almighty has given me the opportunity to do the honors myself"_ thought Akainu, who's eyes were shimmering with fire.

The Admiral descended down his 'throne', and began his ascend to end the Yonko's life for one and all. And to sustain justice in this world.

 **Whitebeard**

Whitebeard, noticed the Admiral's gradual ascend towards him, discreetly smirked

 _"So he can't sustain a hit on his ego, huh. Looks like I will get a nice workout from this. This is the window for penetration"_ thought Whitebeard. Whitebeard merely glanced at Rayleigh, who was intently looking at how the things were proceeding. The Yonko gave a brief nod, and Rayleigh nodded back. He picked up his Den-Den mushi.

"Oars, listen to me. Do not enter the plaza. Stay near the plaza, and trust me. My sons will save Ace. You keep the Giants occupied"

The Giant, who was nearing the blockade created by the Giant Marines, got the message from the den-den mushi he had in possession.

"Got it Oyajin"

Whitebeard, satisfied with how things were proceeding, began to gather his strength for the impending battle.

 **Sengoku**

"Aokiji! Back up Akainu. Kizaru, stay at the edge of the Scaffold and be on guard" yelled Sengoku into his Den-Den mushi.

 _"I feel that this might just work out in our favor. Whitebeard and Marco will have their hands full with Akainu and Aokiji. While the rest of them can be more than troublesome, Kizaru can handle it. If things do go out of control, these pirates still need to pass me"_ thought Sengoku, before turning his attention towards Tsuru.

"Tsuru! It's time to go forward with the execution. This is the right time! Bring in the executioners!"

 **Rayleigh**

" _So the old man is going to bow out with a bang huh? That leaves me with this rescue team. Not a bad bunch, but I cannot expect Luffy to bear the brunt of fighting. He has tremendous potential, but with so many Haki users out here, he cannot win a fight, especially keeping in mind his physical state. So it's upto us old timers to fend off the more powerful opponents"_ mused Rayleigh. He looked around the company he had besides him – The former Shichibukai Jimbei, Revolutionary Ivankov, Diamond Jozu, Vista, a few other Whitebeard allies…. And Boa Hancock?

"Hancock! Long time no see! How come you are in the men's land?"

"Rayleigh san! I came here to protect my husband!" said Hancock, swooning over Luffy.

 _"So that's where Kuma sent him huh? Interesting turn of events. Her devil-fruit can be very handy against these low-level thugs"_

"That's great Hancock. Let's have our pleasantries later. You protect your 'husband'" said Rayleigh, before turning his attention towards Luffy.

"Listen to me, Luffy. We have some very powerful allies amongst our midst, ready to help you, but at the same time, the marines are equally dangerous. Do not pick a fight with any of them, especially your grandpa or any other Vice Admirals. They can actually hurt you, even if you are rubber. Leave the fighting job to us. Your job is to get to Ace as fast as you can, and save him" said Rayleigh to Luffy, looking right into his eye.

"Got it Rayleigh. Lets go!" Yelled Luffy, and charged ahead.

 **Whitebeard**

 _"So here he comes"_ mused Whitebeard, seeing the approaching form of Admiral Akainu. The marines and pirates alike had formed a path for the raging admiral to proceed towards Whitebeard. Meanwhile rest of the marines were trying to surround the second group who were progressing ahead, but in vain.

 _"Seems like these marines see me more as a threat than my sons and those brats. How wrong are they"_ thought Whitebeard.

"So you are no coward after all, huh Akainu? I am surprised!"

"Don't worry Whitebeard. Once I am done with you, I will hunt down those pesky pirates you call sons"

"Bring it on, Akainu!" yelled Whitebead, before attacking Akainu with his Bisento.


End file.
